Janneke Schopman, head coach of the Indian girls’s hockey group, believes the previous doesn’t matter. This is an effective time, although, to revisit the previous.
Indian girls’s hockey group captain Savita Punia with teammate Bichu Devi Kharibam and head coach Janneke Schopman throughout a coaching session forward of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024 match in opposition to USA(PTI)
You’d maybe nonetheless keep in mind photographs, heartbreaking and heartwarming alike, of the ladies’s group shedding a hard-fought bronze medal play-off on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and ending a punching-above-the-weight fourth. But you’d most likely not keep in mind how they acquired to solely their second Olympic look in over three many years.
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It would all come right down to a two-match shootout between India and USA for one of many qualification spots for Tokyo. India cruised to a 5-1 win within the first match however crashed to a 4-0 deficit by half-time within the second the next day in Bhubaneswar. It wanted a Rani Rampal strike to salvage the mixture (6-5) and safe the Tokyo berth for the relieved Indians.
Schopman, coach of that USA facet who has since switched dugouts, will hope there’s far lesser drama in retailer this time for the Indian group that kicks off its FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi in opposition to the identical group on Saturday.
With 2024 Paris Olympics spots on supply for the three high groups from this eight-team match divided into two teams, India should end among the many greatest two of their group (additionally involving New Zealand and Italy) after which kick on to seize the three spots for the semi-finalists.
It’s a tough match, one which the ladies’s group wouldn’t have hoped to be part of main as much as the Asian Games final yr. But a third-place end in Hangzhou — the lads’s group gained gold to seal direct qualification to Paris — meant the Savita Punia-led group has been pressured to take this detour. It’s like lacking a vital flip and having to take an extended and more difficult route to succeed in the vacation spot.
Schopman, nonetheless, doesn’t want to look into the rear-view mirror.
“It doesn’t work to live in the past. The players know we’ve learnt from the Asian Games. We know that we missed an opportunity, and from that moment on we knew that we have to be ready for this tournament,” the former Dutch player said. “We need to be better. And if we play to the best of our abilities here, we have a good opportunity to qualify (for the Olympics).”
The bronze medal on the Asian Games (beating Japan 2-1) was little comfort to the 4-0 defeat to eventual champions China within the semi-finals. With their “eyes on this match from then on”, Schopman and her troops soon swung back to action. India rebounded by winning the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT), also held in Ranchi, less than a month later getting past China (2-1) in the group stage and Japan in the final (4-0). A 5-Nations tournament in Valencia in December offered mixed results — India lost to Spain (2-3), Belgium (1-2), Germany (1-3) and beat Ireland (2-1) — but precious game time against stiffer opponents.
That this Indian team already has a feel for Ranchi’s Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf Hockey Stadium and its usually packed stands, through the ACT outing in October, could help.
“Even when we were playing that tournament, we were talking about these qualifiers — that this is a big advantage for us to play here once, with the crowd, the pressure etc,” Savita, the captain and goalkeeper, said. “But the tournament name changes now, and when there’s the Olympics attached to it, there can be nothing bigger for any athlete.”
Of late for the women’s team, in tournaments where the stakes have surged, the quality of outcomes have dipped. After the Tokyo delight, India were joint-ninth in the 2022 Women’s World Cup and returned with a third-place finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and last year’s Asian Games, the latter carrying greater context and reward. The heat from the pressure cooker has often intensified when Indian hockey teams have played a major competition at home. And although Schopman reckons the Ranchi crowd can work to their advantage, pressure will remain a factor.
“There is pressure, no doubt. It’s normal,” the skilled Savita stated. “But we’re working loads in direction of enjoying higher beneath that strain. It can be difficult. It will not be simple.”
More so with senior participant Vadana Katariya lacking resulting from damage. The onus can be on the youthful forwards, the likes of Sangita Kumari and Deepika, to step up. The latter may even should do the heavy lifting in penalty nook conversion, an space the group has struggled with.
In phrases of rating, India are the second-best group on this match (a spot behind Germany). But Schopman is aware of each single group there, irrespective of the rating, can be determined for only one factor: “qualify for Paris”.
“They will be ready. And we will have to match their intensity,” she added.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
